1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a method and apparatus for stacking plate-like articles and more particularly to a method and apparatus for alternately stacking finite numbers of at least two different types of plate-like articles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
While the instant invention has features which make it applicable for many purposes in various fields, the present disclosure is directed particularly to the handling of wrapped battery plates used in manufacturing lead-acid batteries. As is well known, present day automotive and industrial batteries are made up of a number of cells wherein each cell includes a plurality of alternately arranged positive and negative plates. The positive cells are wrapped in a micro-porous plastic envelope. Normally each cell is produced by an operator manually assembling a finite number of alternating plates into a stack for insertion into each cell chamber of a battery casing. Such a repetitive manual operation is tedious and boresome and an operator may inadvertently place a positive plate next to a positive plate and/or a negative plate next to a negative plate. This of course produces defective batteries and prohibitive production losses as such batteries are expensive to repair and/or scrap. Accordingly, it is highly desirable to automate this manual process.